How many grains of BP in .45 Colt?

[ClemBert]

I posted a couple of threads on different forum boards inquiring about .45 Colt reloading with Black Powder. I never got the answer I was looking for. Probably because most people don't pay attention to how much BP powder they are using in their .45 Colt reloads. They just make sure they have enough in there and compress it. Here are my questions to you .45 Colt Black Powder reloaders:

1. How many volumetric grains of Goex 2Fg or 3Fg are you putting into your .45 Colt reloads?

2. Do you use any type of wad and how many grains is your bullet?

3. How many volumetric grains of Black Powder are there in a 1 lb can of Goex 3Fg?

 

[rcmodel]

The early factory load was 40 grains FFG BP under a 255 grain hollow-base bullet, in a balloon-head type case.

Modern cases cannot hold that much powder, and hollow-base bullets are hard to come by.

I can't tell you the exact load, but you need to fill the case leaving just enough room for the bullet you use to compress the powder slightly.
You will probably find 35 grains of Goex FFG to be about right.

No filler is needed or wanted.
You do need to use soft BP bullet lube though.

There are 7000 grains in a pound, so divide 7000 by the charge you end up with to determine how many loads you can get per pound of powder.

For instance:
7000 / 35 grains = 200 rounds per pound.

rc

 

[sundance44s]

I load most of my 45 LC with 30 grs of 3F volume and a .060 card with a .250 gr bullet on top ...I use the card because it may be a year or two before I get a chance to shoot them and I want a little portection from the lube migrateing into the powder . ( never had a problem with this just want a little insurance )
I have loaded 40 grs of 3F under the same bullet and used a 24 inch drop tube and left out the card ....this is a stout load ...too stout of my paper punching , but makes a good hunting load .
There are 7,000 grs of powder in a 1 lb can .

 

[zxcvbob]

Load it to the top. Shake it down; make sure there's enough room for the bullet (the powder will compress a little) Seat the bullet, and crimp it so it doesn't climb out. HTH

 

[ClemBert]

I just did a quick-n-dirty experiment to see how much Goex 3Fg an empty .45 Colt brass case will hold. Using a volumetric BP measure it appears that about 37 or 38 grains fill the case to the tippy top. Most definitely looks like a drop tube would be used to get 40 grains into a .45 Colt case. It would appear that 35 grains with a 0.030 wad is the easy path to take.

 

[sundance44s]

Some brass is a little thicker walled than others ...Starline and Remington are 2 of the thickest made ...
I use only Winchester brass for my black powder loads because of it`s thinner walls makes loading more volume easyer and it is much easyer to size .
The thicker brass might hold up longer to reloading times with smokeless powders ...
The pressures aren`t as great with Black powder and the Winchester brass I use has been reloaded over 12 times each piece and never a split case .

 

[ClemBert]

Yup, I have new unfired Starline brass. I bought Starline because it was rumored to be heavier duty.

 

[EnsignJimmy]

I use 35 grains of Pyrodex P under a 255 grain bullet. Fired from a 120+ year old 5.5" Colt 1878 double-action, it averages 936 ft/sec. Sources I have seen through the years suggests that the modern case's capacity is around 37 to 38 grains (volumetrically measured.)

 

[scrat]

2 types. For the Walker i load up the cases 35 grains, a over powder card. The eyeball it then if its good then press in the bullet.

For the Remington i put in 30 grains, wad then 10 grains of oatmeal. Compress then bullet.

For shofield i use 20 grains shot card then 5 grains of oatmeal.